"What?!"
Kurotsuchi shrieked in horror when Deidara told her that he had already dealt with the Land of Earth's Daimyō in advance.
"...Don't tell me you went to Iwagakure just for this."
Bai Mo only just learned about Deidara's actions and was momentarily speechless.
Sure enough, everyone in the Akatsuki was an unpredictable factor.
Even if their intentions were good.
Just like when Nagato threw a Planetary Devastation at him earlier.
Now Deidara had helped kill the Land of Earth's Daimyō.
"Of course not, I went to perfect my art."
Deidara flatly denied it.
But Deidara's motive no longer mattered to Kurotsuchi.
This was practically forcing her hand... "Oh, by the way, Kurotsuchi, you'd better hurry back.
Whether you become the Tsuchikage or fulfill your ambitions can wait.
But if someone accidentally steps into the Daimyō's mansion to investigate, they will never return.
You need to go back and warn them."
"As for why, my mutated art C4 Garuda, it..."
Deidara described the characteristics of his modified Garuda to Kurotsuchi, and Kurotsuchi's expression immediately changed.
"I..."
Kurotsuchi looked at Bai Mo, hesitating to speak.
After all, she had just voluntarily asked to join not long ago, and now she was immediately withdrawing, which was too sudden.
"Go back. Don't think that just because the Daimyō is gone, you don't need to do anything. There are still those ministers. Their existence is no different from the Daimyō.
If you don't deal with them, you still won't be able to grant the Land of Earth and Iwagakure freedom and the power to control their own destiny."
Bai Mo didn't care about Kurotsuchi's departure.
He agreed to Kurotsuchi joining, but never expected her to stay long.
His main goal was to let Kurotsuchi understand the Akatsuki's objectives up close, and ultimately, he still wanted Kurotsuchi to become the Tsuchikage.
"Understood, I will definitely not do worse than the Mizukage!"
Kurotsuchi clenched her fists and nodded solemnly.
"Hurry up and leave, hurry up, Kurotsuchi. If you have any trouble that you can't conveniently solve yourself, you can give our organization a mission."
Deidara urged her from the side, fearing that Kurotsuchi would change her mind and decide to stay.
"Okay."
Kurotsuchi, for once, didn't argue with Deidara.
"Take this. I hope it can strengthen your resolve."
As Kurotsuchi turned to leave, Bai Mo slipped something into her hand.
By the time Kurotsuchi reacted, she was already far from Bai Mo and the others.
Kurotsuchi took out the item Bai Mo had given her and saw it was a photograph.
A group photo.
One person in it was very familiar: Bai Mo.
The other... wearing a red, high-slit qipao, with a pair of fair, long legs, stood in front of the Earth Release: Golem Technique's rock giant, posing confidently with a smile alongside Bai Mo.
The Golem Technique required precise chakra control, which she hadn't mastered yet... "No wonder she was called Leg Shadow."
Kurotsuchi looked at her own long legs in the photo, then glanced down at her current situation.
She was only fifteen now; she should still grow, right?
Kurotsuchi put away the photo, carefully tucking it into a hidden compartment in her ninja tool pouch.
The appearance of this photo made Kurotsuchi completely trust everything Bai Mo had said before.
"Ōtsutsuki..."
Kurotsuchi recalled that when Bai Mo was reprimanding her earlier, he seemed to have revealed the name of that future enemy.
She also thought of Deidara returning to Iwagakure to steal scrolls that could enhance his strength, risking discovery and capture.
She also needed to train hard and improve her strength... "No wonder that scroll mentioned reducing the workload of the Kage."
As Kurotsuchi thought of this, she suddenly understood.
Then she clenched her fists and accelerated her return towards Iwagakure.
Just as she had told Bai Mo earlier, Kurotsuchi and the Mizukage of Kirigakure, on the distant other side of the Ninja World, had become allies, and also rivals in a competition.
—
"Konan, please send a message to Kisame in the Land of Waves. Tell him to inform the Mizukage that she is not alone; Iwagakure's Fourth Tsuchikage is her 'revolutionary comrade'."
"...Okay."
As Konan agreed, she gave Bai Mo another side-eye.
—First, tell Kurotsuchi that the Mizukage has done it. Now, tell the Mizukage that the Tsuchikage has done it.
A classic Ponzi scheme.
The difference was that Bai Mo's deception served to strengthen both parties' convictions.
—
More than a month passed.
Iwagakure and Kirigakure had made initial progress.
The changes in Kirigakure, being overseas, had not spread.
Only Iwagakure, which had intentionally sent ninja to investigate, knew some details about Kirigakure.
Meanwhile, in Iwagakure, the news that the entire Daimyō family had mysteriously died, leaving no successor, quickly spread throughout the Ninja World.
Ōnoki resigned, retired to become an Iwagakure elder, and passed the Tsuchikage position to the fifteen-year-old Kurotsuchi.
Without a Daimyō, the Tsuchikage became the supreme leader of the Land of Earth.
Those ministers who wanted to seize power were suppressed not long after.
Kurotsuchi, whose mental conditioning had been broken by Bai Mo, would no longer obey even the Daimyō's orders, let alone these ministers.
The commoners and ordinary ninja below, initially unaccustomed to the Daimyō being replaced by the Tsuchikage, soon accepted it with pleasure.
Kurotsuchi, relying on Iwagakure's intelligence department and Anbu, easily controlled the allocation of all resources with firsthand information.
At this point, Kurotsuchi immediately initiated reforms as described in Bai Mo's scroll.
The redistribution of benefits almost reached everyone, and even ordinary villagers of the Land of Earth enjoyed the benefit of halved taxes.
For ninja, mission bounties and disability/death benefits were all increased.
At this time, even if a minister wanted to step forward and claim they could succeed the Daimyō, no one would support them.
I could have endured the darkness, if I had not seen the light.
However, Iwagakure's "rebellious" actions naturally aroused the vigilance of other Daimyō.
Even if intelligence suggested that Iwagakure did not exterminate the Daimyō family, the Tsuchikage was ultimately the biggest beneficiary.
They would not believe that a fifteen-year-old girl could rule the Land of Earth; Ōnoki must still be pulling the strings behind the scenes.
The Land of Fire's Daimyō had no reaction, only quietly increasing the number of guardian ninja.
The Land of Wind's Daimyō, on the other hand, took the opportunity to once again cut Sunagakure's budget, stating that if Sunagakure expressed dissatisfaction, it meant they wanted to betray him, just like Iwagakure.
The Land of Lightning's Daimyō, originally just wanting to protest Iwagakure's actions under the strong suppression of the Raikage, was told by the Raikage that they should declare war on Iwagakure.
Iwagakure had broken the rules of the Ninja World.
Since it had come to this, what else was there to say?
The Land of Lightning's Daimyō naturally agreed with pleasure.
His good feelings towards the Raikage also increased.
Although the Third and Fourth Raikage often acted on their own initiative and ignored him, the Daimyō, when it came to defending his ruling position, the Raikage was still very loyal.
At this time, the Land of Waterfalls had become the battlefield for the conflict between Iwagakure and Kumogakure.
The Kage from both sides had arrived at the front lines.
"I paid your organization, and only two of you came?"
Kurotsuchi looked at the familiar Bai Mo and the only masked man beside him, complaining.
[Here is a map of the Ninja World]
....
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